


Hot Rod

by writer_inthe_dark



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: !!!!!, Crushes, Dave (Umbrella Academy) is Alive, Dave is a mechanic, Fluff and Humor, M/M, No Incest, Pining, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Rivalry, Sober Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-01-27 08:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21388783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writer_inthe_dark/pseuds/writer_inthe_dark
Summary: Klaus, Allison, and Diego just wanted to get some ice cream on a hot summer day. Was that too much to ask? OfcourseDiego's car had to break down, and ofcoursehe was too stubborn to let the gang call a tow truck. They end up pushing it to the nearest repair shop they could find. They meet mechanic Dave Katz, AKA the most beautiful man they've ever seen. With the three Hargreeves shamelessly pining after him, there's a race to win his heart. But Dave seems to only have eyes for one...
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 59
Kudos: 152





	1. Chapter 1

“This is so stupid,” Allison grunted.

“Oh, come on. Nothin’ wrong with a little hard work and exercise,” Diego piped back.

“You know, it’s a bad day when _I_ agree that something is stupid,” Klaus called back.

Diego scoffed, “Klaus, you are literally steering, aka doing the least amount of work. Allison and I are sweating back here.”

“Hey! I’m doing work! It’s not my fault that I’m too classy to sweat!”

“Okay, out of the three of us, Allison is definitely the classiest and she is drenched right now.”

“I have been pushing your piece of junk car for the past twenty minutes in _heels_. You do not get to make fun of me right now.” Allison huffed.

“I just don’t see why we couldn’t call a tow truck. I mean, we literally have passed so many places where we could have just walked in and asked to use a phone.” Klaus groaned.

“We were literally _blocks_ away from the mechanic. It would have been a lazy waste of money. Quit being annoying.” Diego answered, wiping sweat off of his face with his sleeve.

Allison rolled her eyes, “Yeah, ‘cause we are _so_ concerned about money now that we have dad’s inheritance.”

“Just shut up and push.”

All they had wanted was ice cream. Just a simple cone of ice cream on a hot summer day. Klaus had been excited for an excursion of just the three of them. As kids, Klaus was closest to Diego and Allison, but separately. Diego and Allison didn’t get along as much when they were younger because Allison was very close with Luther and Diego was very _not_ close with Luther. It caused some massive blowouts when they were kids, but ever since The Apocalypse they were all trying to be a family again, and they were surprisingly successful at it. They had all been living together in the mansion. Vanya would go back to her apartment every once in a while to give lessons, but she was at the mansion more often than not. Diego officially moved everything out of his dingy basement dwelling and took up permanent residence in their home. They were all a family once again, but a proper family this time around. They were all making efforts to be there for each other and Klaus had never been happier.

Which was why Diego’s car breaking down on their way to go to an ice cream shop was a bit of a bummer. He had been excited to spend the evening with them! They were going to get ice cream then go see a movie (one that Allison was personal friends with the star of). He knew that his siblings were excited too. They were halfway there when the hood of Diego’s car started smoking, forcing them to pull over. He stopped the car and looked under the hood, which only resulted in more smoke billowing out. After that, the car wouldn’t start again and Diego insisted that there was a mechanic shop close enough to push the car there. Which leads to where there were now. Pushing Diego’s shitty car on the side of the road in the middle of a hot summer day. 

“Look, there’s the shop. Told you it wasn’t far.” Diego huffed, pointing to the place up ahead.

“Yeah, you told us that 30 minutes ago.” Allison muttered. Klaus giggled and they pushed and pushed until they finally had the car in the driveway of the garage.

They wandered into the auto shop and looked around. Nobody appeared to be inside.

“Hello?” Diego called, “Anyone here?”

“I swear to God, Diego, if you dragged us all the way to an empty shop I’m gonna-”

“I’m under here!” A voice called out, “Sorry, I’ll be out in just a sec.”

They looked down to see a pair of legs sticking out from underneath a beat-up Jeep. The Hargreeves shrugged at each other. Klaus started wandering around to look at all of the tools while Diego began speaking again.

“Thanks, man. I don’t know what happened, she just died on me. I’ve had problems with her before b...but…” Diego trailed off after the sound of wheels rolling filled the air. Klaus turned to see Diego staring at something with his mouth opening and closing, completely speechless. Klaus looked across to see Allison in a similar state, her eyes wide and blinking rapidly. Klaus turned to see what they were ogling at and felt his jaw drop to the floor. The mechanic was getting up from his position under the car and he looked like he had just stepped out of one of Klaus’ more inappropriate dreams. He must have been the hottest guy that Klaus had ever seen! He was wearing a tight white tank top that showed off his beautiful, beautiful arms with their beautiful, beautiful muscles. His body was smudged with oil and grease and there was a dash of it on his incredible cheekbone. He had sky-blue eyes and a smile that made Klaus’ heart melt. His golden curls were slightly in disarray, giving him the perfect level of dishevelment. God, Klaus could just imagine running his hands through it. He could picture the man grabbing him with his strong hands and slamming him against the hood of the car then-

“Sorry ‘bout that. I’m the only one in today.”

The man stepped forward and extended a hand to the stunned Hargreeves, only to retract it when he realized that it was completely covered in black oil. 

“Woops, I would shake your hands but I’m a little messy right now. I’ve been wrestlin’ with this old thing all day. Got me all greasy,” He gestured to the car behind him. 

God, his voice made Klaus’ knees weak. He had a sweet southern drawl that made him all the more sexy.

“Not a problem. Like, at all.” Klaus managed. 

The beautiful mechanic smirked and Klaus could swear he felt something jolt in his chest at the sight, “I’m Dave. I’m the owner of this place.”

“D-Dave, it’s n-nice to meet you. I’m Diego. This is m-my sister, Allison, and my brother, K-Klaus.”

Dave gave a smile that lit up the whole room, seemingly unaware of the effect he was having on the Hargreeves, “So, what exactly seems to be the problem with your car?”

“Well, I, uh,” Diego cleared his throat, “I think it’s something with the engine, but I’m not entirely sure…”

“Well, lemme just take a quick peek under the hood and see,” Dave walked over and opened up the hood of the car. Klaus felt his soul leave his body as Dave leaned over to inspect the inside. This must be a dream. A crazy, horny, stupid, stupid dream. How can a person this beautiful even exist? 

“Dang,” Dave called out, “this is a doozy. How did you even manage to get it here?”

“We, uh, pushed it.” Allison replied.

“You pushed it?!” Dave exclaimed and turned to look at them, “It’s nearly 90 degrees out! You could've called me and I would'a given you a tow!”

“Well _I_ would have loved that but _someone_ was too stubborn to call.” Klaus shot at Diego. They could have gotten a ride from beautiful Dave!! Diego just glared back.

“Jesus, you must be tired. Come on, I have a little lounge area where you can rest while I work on the estimate. Follow me.”

Dave led them into the shop to a small room in the back with cozy couches. The three settled in, trying to wipe the sweat off of themselves when Dave wasn’t looking. Thank god the room had air conditioning.

“Alrighty,” Dave said with a smile, “Yall can settle in, it shouldn’t take too long. Would you like anything to drink? I’ve got some ice cold lemonade with your name on it.”

“Lemonade sounds great, thanks,” Allison gave her winning smile with the response.

“Sweet, I’ll be right back,” Dave grinned and stepped out of the room. 

As soon as the door shut Klaus took a deep breath and shouted, “DIBS!” 

“What!?” Allison exclaimed, “You can’t call dibs on a person! That’s not how it works!” 

“I think I just did.” Klaus shrugged with a grin.

“Nope,” Diego declared, “Either way, I saw him first. I think I get first claim to him.”

“What? Do you even like guys?” Allison asked.

“I’m bi! And besides, how could you not like _that_.”

“Okay, fair. So we all want him. What are we gonna do about it.”

“I don’t know why you all are acting like you can try anything when I already called dibs.” Klaus shrugged.

“_Oh my god_. You can’t call dibs on him!” Diego groaned.

“And yet, I did,” Klaus grinned.

“Both of you, shut up. Why don’t we let him decide? Nobody gets dibs, and we all just act...normal. And we see if he is into any of us. Who knows, maybe none of us are his type.” Allison sensibly said.

Klaus scoffed, “I’m everyone’s type.”

She smirked, “Then prove it.”

At that, Dave walked in carrying a tray full of glasses and a pitcher full of lemonade. His hands were noticeably free from oil now and it looked like he had attempted to fix his hair a bit. He smiled as he set the tray down on the coffee table in front of them.

“Here you go! Now, I’ll just take a few minutes to check over the damage and I’ll be right back with an estimate for ya’. I’ll be right there in the garage if you need anything.” Dave was smiling warmly at the three of them. He was met with a chorus of, “Thanks, Dave!”, “No problem, Dave!” and, “You’re the best, Dave!”. Dave smiled wider and Klaus could have sworn that when he made eye contact with him, Dave quickly looked down and blushed. He nodded and exited the room.

“Did you see that?” Diego smirked, “He totally got all flustered when he looked at me.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Klaus exclaimed, “He was looking at me!”

Diego scoffed, “You’re losing it, bro. He looked right at me, then blushed. It was freaking adorable.”

“It _was_ adorable, and it was directed at _me!!_”

“Oh, boys,” Allison sighed, “It’s all over for you. He looked right at me and said,” she put on a deep, sultry voice, “I’ll be in the garage if you need anything.’ I’m pretty sure he even winked.”

Diego rolled his eyes, “He did not wink.”

“He totally did,” Allison smirked.

As Allison and Diego bickered about the alleged wink, Klaus let his mind wander back to Dave. He was probably bending over the car right now. God, he was out of this world. Klaus could out flirt his siblings...right? He wasn’t so sure. Everything was so much easier before he was sober. Before, he didn’t really even need to flirt. Someone would just start dancing with him at a bar, no introductions needed, and he would be set for the night. Now though...he wouldn’t even know where to start. Dave seemed genuinely kind. Klaus didn’t want this to just be a one night stand or anything- although that would be fun as well, he would take what he can get- but Dave was a true ray of sunshine. Klaus didn’t want to let something like that go. But he was scared. Diego was surprisingly suave and Allison was the most charming person that Klaus had ever met. How could he compete with them?

Dave walked into the room interrupting his thoughts. He smiled wide at them. A small amount of oil had reappeared on his hands.

“Okay, she needs quite a bit of work, so I’ll need about four or five days, but once I’m done she’ll be good as new!”

He gave them a reasonable cost estimate and had Diego fill out a little bit of paperwork.

“So,” Dave started, “Do you have a ride home?”

“Well, we could call, uh…” Diego looked to the other two, “Vanya can drive, right? She can drive dad’s old car?”

Allison winced, “I don’t think she has a license…And Luther doesn’t like driving because he has a hard time...fitting. Five can drive but I know he’s gotten pulled over three times already because everyone thinks he is a small child.”

“So...taxi?” Klaus asked.

Dave cut in, “Oh, no, no, no. It’s nearly 7:00 so I was about to close up for the night anyways. I can give you a ride.”

Klaus perked up, “Really? That would be amazing!”

Dave smiled at him, “No problem at all. I’m just going to change real quick then I’ll be ready to roll.”

He strolled into his office to put on clean clothes. Klaus decided to do a little dance in the meantime, singing, “We get to ride with Da-ave! We get to ride with Da-ave!” Diego and Allison didn’t sing along, but they did smile as they were obviously also excited. Dave emerged wearing a plain black t-shirt and a fresh pair of blue jeans. He had completely cleaned the grime from his body. His eyes twinkled at them as he walked over. Somehow it was enough to make Klaus’ knees feel weak.

“Alrighty, my car’s parked out back. Follow me.”

He led them out and locked the door after them. Klaus tried not to stare too hard at his perfect backside. Dave led them over to his car. Now, Klaus knew nothing at all about cars, but he knew this was a cool one. It was shiny and red and looked like it must have come from the 60s or 70s. It had two black striped going from front to back. 

“Woah, is this really your car? This is so sweet,” Diego asked in awe.

Dave grinned from ear to ear and looked adoringly at the vehicle, “Ain’t she a beauty? A 1972 Chevrolet El Camino. She was in pretty rough shape when I got her, but I fixed her up and gave her a little paint job and voila! Good as new!” He pat the hood and looked up at them, “Well, hop in.”

Dave got in the driver’s seat. Klaus saw Diego going for the front seat and decided to tackle him to get it instead. He shouted, “SHOT GUN!” as he leapt through the air and onto his back, knocking them both to the ground. Diego yelped in surprise and the two began to wrestle around on the ground. Allison simply stepped over them and sat in the seat.

After a few moments, the boys on the ground noticed their spot had been claimed and hastily shot up and into the back seats.

“So, where we headin'?” Dave asked when everyone was settled.

“We live on Main Street. Head that way and you can’t miss it.” Diego replied.

“Main Street. You got it.”

“So, Dave,” Allison started, “where are you from?”

“Alabama,” Dave said with a smile, “Lived in a town smaller than you could believe until about five years ago. It was a big change, but I really love livin’ in the city.”

“What made you want to move?” Diego asked.

Dave’s smile dropped and he squirmed in his seat, “Oh, well, you know. People in towns like that aren’t very open to...differences. They are as charming as can be ‘til they find out something they don’t like about you. Here it’s the opposite. Everyone around you is completely unlike anyone you’ve ever met. I love it! The only downside is that people aren’t as friendly when you first meet them. Not too easy making friends out here.” He shrugged.

Klaus blinked. He knew what kinds of ‘differences’ Dave was talking about. He couldn’t imagine being gay in some small rural town like that. Always having to hide who you are. His family had always known. Reginald didn’t pay attention to their personal lives enough to care about their sexual orientations. The only thing that Reginald had said to him when he had offhandedly came out in an interview was, “Number Four. You know attachments make you weak and are forbidden in this household. Do not let this affect your training.” And that was that. The public had mixed reactions, but his siblings always protected him. If someone would go up to him being homophobic, Luther would just punch them. Or Diego would threaten them. Or Allison would Rumor them. As they grew up, things changed and people overall became more accepting. Klaus always feels confident enough to be who he is and doesn't worry about what people think. Sure, he occasionally gets snide comments or nasty glares. But he doesn't ever feel like he has had to completely hide who he is. 

But this is New York City. In a small rural town in Alabama...Without super-powered siblings to back you up...Klaus didn’t think he could handle it. He looked over to see that Dave still had his eyebrows furrowed, eyes far away in thought. He couldn’t stand to see Dave upset.

“Well, hey, now you’ve got three new friends right here,” Klaus said with a grin.

Dave’s eyes twinkled as he looked back at him in the rear-view, “That I do.”

They turned down Main Street and drove in front of the mansion.

“You can just pull over here.” Diego said.

“Here? I thought this was the Umbrella Academy mansion?”

“Well, yeah, it is…” Diego trailed off.

Dave looked at them, uncomprehending. Klaus decided to put his **HELLO** and **GOODBYE** hands in front of his eyes, palms facing Dave, and shout, “BOO!” 

Dave’s eyes lit up with the realization, “What!? So you’re- and she’s- and- holy shit! No way!” He clutched his chest, “I’m sure you get this all the time, but I was such a big fan of you guys. I had posters all over my walls. Literally, one of the first things that I did when I moved here was drive by the mansion and take a quick picture in front. I can’t believe you’re them! Diego, Allison, and Klaus. The Kraken, The Rumor, and The Seance. Jeez, this is crazy.”

The Hargreeves smiled. Klaus usually hated getting recognized. He was sure that Diego and Allison hated it too, but none of them seemed to mind Dave’s ramblings. He seemed so sincere. Completely joyful. Dave’s smile was just infectious, you couldn’t not smile back.

“So, did you have a favorite?” Diego asked with a smirk.

Fuck. Klaus was never anyone’s favorite. People liked him for being ‘the funny one’. But everyone _loved_ The Umbrella Academy for their powers, not their personalities. And _nobody_ thought his powers were cool. How could they when he was standing right next to people who could bend reality or jump through space and time? He was definitely at the bottom of the totem pole. Klaus braced himself for disappointment.

But Dave immediately started stuttering, “Oh, well, I, uh-” He glanced at Klaus and blushed, quickly looking away, “I didn’t really have a favorite, I guess." He cleared his throat, "I don’t know, you all were so cool. Hard to compare, you know?”

Klaus smiled and scooted forward in his seat, “Wanna come inside and check it out?”

Dave’s eyes grew wide, “Really?”

The Hargreeves nodded.

“Well, yeah!” Dave exclaimed. They led him where to park and walked around to the front gate.

They led him inside and he craned his neck to look at _everything_. He was staring at the room around him completely wide eyed. 

They walked into the living room/library to see Five sitting on a couch and reading a book. Klaus could also see Ben lounging next to him. Five glanced up when they all walked in. Dave looked over to see him and his jaw dropped.

“Is that Five?! But I thought- didn’t he-?” Dave stopped stammering and made his way to Five.

“Hi, sorry, I’m Dave. It is so nice to meet you.” He extended a hand to Five, who looked at it with complete disinterest.

“Who’s this?” he addressed his siblings.

“_This_,” Diego said while stepping forward and casually draping an arm around Dave’s shoulders, “Is Dave. He is a mechanic who is currently fixing my car.”

Five hummed, “I knew that thing was going to crap out on you one of these days.”

Diego rolled his eyes. Allison stepped forward and asked, “Where is everyone?”

“Vanya is giving music lessons right now. Luther went to a meeting for that gardening club he joined. Mom is cooking dinner. And Ben has been fading in and out for the last hour.” He gave a not-so-subtle glance at Dave, then at Klaus, “Now I know why.”

“Okay, that’s not-” Klaus huffed and focused on making Ben tangible. His arms glowed momentarily, followed by Dave jumping in surprise, letting Klaus know that Ben was visible to everyone again.

“Sorry, Ben.” Klaus sighed. They had been practicing with his powers ever since The Apocalypse and he could make him tangible with very minimal focus now, even from long distances. But when he gets distracted by the most beautiful man he has ever seen...well they’ve never run into that obstacle before today. 

Ben simply snickered at him and shook his head, “I’m not even shocked.”

Klaus could feel himself blushing but thankfully Dave was distracted with staring at Ben with his jaw to the floor. Ben looked over at him and grinned, extending a hand and saying, “Hey, I’m Ben. It’s nice to meet you.”

Dave gaped and jerkily reached to grab his hand, “Oh, yeah, hi. I, uh, I’m Dave. It’s so nice to meet you. Uh,” he looked from Ben to Klaus, then back to Ben, “I don’t want to pry, but aren’t you, uh- I mean-”

Klaus giggled, “Don’t worry, Benny is still dead. We’ve just been working on my powers a bit so now it’s like he’s alive again instead of being stuck as my Jiminy Cricket until I kick it. Ha! That rhymed!”

Dave stared in awe, “Wow, so this is a new power? I don’t remember you being able to manifest ghosts as a kid?”

“Old power, new power, red power, blue power. It’s kinda unclear. I’ve recently stumbled into the world of sobriety and with it came these new abilities. I haven’t been, uh, sober since before our little team went public, so I’m not really sure when the power would have manifested itself, but I’ve got it now! And I can actually banish the ghosts now! Let me tell you, being able to sleep without having the undead screaming me awake has been the best thing to ever happen to me. Who needs drugs when you can get eight hours of sleep a night, am I right?” He laughed a pitch too high after realizing he was rambling. Dave had his brows furrowed in concern, but still had an encouraging smile on his face. 

“Well congrats on sobriety, that’s amazing! And congrats on the new powers.”

Klaus blushed at Dave’s proud smile, “Thanks. It’s nothing.” Definitely not nothing. Staying sober was one of the hardest things he has ever had to do. Withdrawals were a bitch, and even when he got past that, the cravings sometimes would be so overwhelming that he couldn’t focus on anything else. But he was trying, and now he had his family to support him. He even had Diego tie him to a chair at one point. 

“Doesn’t sound like nothing to me.” Dave said with a small smile. Klaus blushed further. At that moment, Grace walked in. 

“Okay children, dinner is ready! Oh!” Her eyes settled on Dave, “I didn’t realize we had company. Don’t worry, we have plenty of food!” She smiled brightly at him.

“Oh, thank you ma’am, but I don’t want to intrude…”

She tutted, “Nonsense! Come along now, you all have to eat up before it gets cold!”

Dave looked to the rest of the Hargreeves for confirmation but Allison and Diego had already attached themselves to his side and lead him downstairs.

“Our mom is the best cook, you’ll love it!”

“Our other siblings should be home soon too, you should totally stay and meet them!”

Klaus pouted out his lip and stomped his foot as they guided him down, “Why does he only have two arms! I want one!”

Ben snorted and Five rolled his eyes saying, “You all are vultures.”

“Hey!” Klaus exclaimed, “Not all of us have pretty ladies like Delores to call our own! Some of us need to find a kind, and strong, and vulnerable, and beautiful-” 

He was interrupted by Five making a noise of disgust and teleporting out of the room. Ben snorted again, “Jesus, Klaus. _Vulnerable?_ Didn’t you just meet him, like, an hour ago?”

Klaus chose to ignore that comment and whipped around to look at him.

“Benny-boy you have _got_ to be my wing man tonight. Diego and Allison are all over him and I need to be impressive.”

Ben rolled his eyes, “Just be yourself! All three of you are trying way too hard. It’s embarrassing.”

Klaus ran a hand through his hair, “_Be myself?_ Who am I, Ben? I have no clue!”

Ben put a calming hand on his shoulder, “You’ll be fine. You’re a great guy. Anyone can see that. Just come downstairs and act how you would normally act. We all love you and he will too.”

Klaus groaned and put his face on Ben’s shoulder, “But what if he doesn’t _love_ love me!”

Ben looked down at him with eyebrows raised, “...Do you want him to _love_ love you?”

Klaus made an indignant noise, “I don’t know! I just met him but I just feel like...I don’t know!”

Ben laughed, “Oh my god, Klaus has a crush! A true and proper crush! I never thought I’d see the day.”

Klaus just groaned some more and buried his face deeper into Ben’s shoulder. Ben smiled and rubbed his hand on Klaus’ back, “C’mon. It’ll be fine. You may be an idiot, but you really like him. Diego and Allison are just horny idiots who are definitely not looking for anything serious right now. Somehow, Dave doesn’t strike me as a friends-with-benefits kind of guy.”

Right. Diego and Allison. Patch and Patrick. They are definitely trying to move on from their exes through a quick rebound. Is Klaus a jerk for trying to swoop in then? He doesn’t think he would be, but he also is the only one who hasn’t recently had a tragic ending with someone he loved. He doesn’t know the protocol here. But Diego and Allison seem fine cock-blocking each other...it’s probably fair game for him to do the same, right? 

At the end of the day, Dave might not be in to any of them. All they could do was see if he was interested, and the fact that he has stuck around so far must mean something, right? Who knows. All Klaus knew was that he had never felt like this before, and he didn't want to let it go.

“Fine. But if I look like an idiot, it's your fault.”

They went downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I really hope you enjoyed!! Please, Please PLEASE tell me what you think though because I have been really second guessing myself on this fic...yall can be honest lmao but I'm only going to continue if people actually like it so please let me know!!! thank you so much for reading!!


	2. Chapter 2

Dinner was...interesting to say the least.

Klaus leapt down the stairs and flung himself into the kitchen. He looked over to see Beautiful Dave looking at him with a small smile. Sadly, Allison and Diego were seated on either side of him. At least the one across from him was open! Klaus skipped to the chair and settled in. Five blinked into the room carrying Delores under his arm. Five carefully set her in the chair beside Klaus, then crawled into the next seat over. Dave had frozen while holding a glass of water halfway to his mouth when Five popped in with her. He watched the scene with wide eyes, blinked, looked around and realized nobody around him was reacting to the sight, gave a small nod and a slight shrug before taking a drink. Ben sat next to Klaus with plenty of seats remaining for the rest of the Hargreeves. 

Grace sauntered over with her winning smile, “Okay, children, I made lasagna for dinner tonight! I made beef for Luther and Diego, seafood for Allison, Klaus and Five, and vegan for Vanya. Does that sound good to everyone?” 

Everyone shouted out their praises. Grace always memorized what recipe everyone liked best and would make each Hargreeves’ favorite every night since Reginald’s funeral. 

(Sadly, since Ben was a ghost he couldn’t eat anything. But Klaus was working on it! Just needed a bit more practice.)

Grace turned to Dave, “Do any of those sound appealing to you? We have plenty. I also have other recipes stored in my memory if none of those sound appetizing.”

Dave smiled politely, “If it’s not too much trouble, ma’am, I’ll have a piece of the vegan.”

Grace smiled brightly, “Certainly, dear.”

Klaus looked at Dave and wiggled his eyebrows, “Oooo, vegan huh? Vanya will be so excited to have a new vegan buddy.”

Dave laughed softly, “Jewish, actually. I’m not overly strict about it, but vegan food is more likely to be kosher and I try to keep kosher as often as I can.”

“Well that is just lovely!” Grace beamed as she dished out the lasagna, “I always wanted their father to put lessons about the religions of the world into their curriculum. It’s such a fascinating subject.”

She blinked and paused for a moment. Klaus found himself wondering what she was thinking right about now. Was she thinking about Reginald? About _religion?_ What would a robot’s thoughts on religion even be?

Whatever was going through her head passed with a blink and a serene smile. She continued scooping out the food and beamed, “Maybe you can discuss it with Klaus! He met God a few months ago and said she was quite the character.”

Five choked on his coffee and Ben snorted out a laugh. Dave looked at Klaus with an expression of complete bewilderment. Klaus quickly blurted out a laugh that sounded only mildly deranged as he rushed to change the subject, “Okay! Moving on! Ben, describe the plot of the book you’re reading!”

Ben snorted again but began talking and Klaus applauded himself on his _extremely casual segway, thank you very much_. Dave was still looking like the conversation had given him whiplash, but Klaus thought he was thoroughly distracted. 

It’s not like him dying was a secret, per say. It was more of a taboo subject. Something that aside from the initial conversation about it, never gets brought up by others. Klaus may occasionally crack a joke about meeting God or getting a nice shave while in Heaven, but none of his siblings had ever brought it up before. So to hear Grace bring up Klaus’ trip to Heaven like some moms bring up their child’s trip to the science fair was a bit jarring. Klaus wasn’t afraid of talking about it. Hell, he actually preferred Grace’s casualness about the situation instead of the eggshells that his siblings seem to walk on, but...what would Dave think? Dave might think he was insane! How could anyone sit through a tale about meeting God -who, _by the way,_ is a little girl that spends her days riding her bike around Heaven- and listen with a straight face?! He can’t let Dave think he’s crazy!

He looked up to see Dave politely nodding along and smiling at whatever Ben was talking about. Ben had recently started getting into the Suburban Mom Drama genre of books and would talk about them for hours to anyone who would listen. Klaus didn’t picture that type of book being Dave’s style, but the man was still encouraging Ben along. 

“-and she thinks that Nick must have cheated on her with Gina, but I’m not so sure. That seems way too obvious to me. The problem is she doesn’t even remember! Can you imagine?”

Dave shook his head, “Wow, that’s quite somethin’!”

“Right!” Ben exclaimed, “I mean, she has three kids and remembers nothing about them! With-”

“Dave doesn’t care,” Five interupted, “He’s just too polite to say so.”

Diego snorted out a laugh. Dave’s face grew red as he opened his mouth to respond -probably with some sort of reassurance to Ben- but Ben spoke up first.

“I bet Delores was interested.”

Five opened his mouth to retort but faltered and looked at Delores. She must have been saying something in agreement with Ben. He flared his nostrils and sat back. Looking like a scolded child, he said, “Fine,” to Delores then turned to Ben, “I’m sorry.” 

Ben sat back with a smug smirk before continuing, “As I was saying-”

“Hey, guys.” Luther bumbled into the room, saving them all from Ben’s tale, holding a large pot full of a pink and green plant. He had that small smile on his face that he always had whenever he came back from his gardening club. Truly content. “Look at the plant we were working with today. It’s called a Polka Dot Plant.”

He was received by a chorus of Wows and Cools. His smile grew wider. 

Dave stood up from his spot at the table and stuck out a hand, “Hi, it’s so nice to meet ya’! I’m Dave.”

Luther hesitantly looked at Dave, then to his siblings. They never had company, and Luther wasn’t used to meeting new people. He slowly shook Dave’s hand as Allison shouted out an explanation. 

“He’s a mechanic working on Diego’s car right now. We invited him over for dinner.”

“Oh,” Luther said looking perplexed. Klaus could see the gears turning in his head. Living in The Academy and on the moon for his whole life, Luther had lived a very sheltered life with little to no outside interaction. They had all been trying to teach Luther what the real world outside of The Academy was like. The problem was, none of them really had quite ‘normal’ lives outside of The Academy anyway. Allison only ever interacted with Hollywood celebrities, Klaus spent most of his days in crack dens (although his family always gets upset when he calls them that), Vanya interacted with as few people as physically possible, Diego spent his free time beating the shit out of people, and Five spent 45 years with a mannequin as his only friend. Their understanding of ‘normal’ wasn’t really on par with most people’s standards. But they were really trying to help show him the ropes as best as they could. So Klaus can imagine that Luther is currently trying to decipher whether or not it’s proper protocol to invite your mechanic over for dinner or not. 

“Well, it’s, uh-” he cleared his throat, “it’s nice to meet you too, Dave.”

Dave beamed at him. Luther readjusted the pot in his arms, “Well, um, I’ll go place this upstairs then come back down to eat. You guys can start without me.”

He quickly shuffled out of the room and Dave sat back down. The food was all out and everyone was all set. Luther came back quickly and they all dug into their food. The meal was as chaotic as all Hargreeves’ meals usually were, with the added bonus of Diego, Allison and Klaus all shamelessly vying for Dave’s attention.

_“-yeah, like batman or daredevil. Saving lives, fighting crime...Maybe I can show you my knife collection later-”_

_“-and then I said, ‘oh, Sandra, you klutz!’ Hm? Oh, yeah, Sandra Bullock. I actually went on a ski trip with her last summer-”_

_“-with chocolate pudding! It was so painful. Not to mention messy! But it was surprisingly effective considering-”_

Dave was as friendly as ever, thoroughly engaging in any conversation they would throw his way. Klaus could swear that Dave would focus more heavily whenever he would talk, but he couldn’t tell if that was just in his head or not. The only thing Klaus was sure of was the fact that he was a complete lovestruck fool. He clung to every detail Dave would give. Any minor hint about his hobbies, his quirks, his past, his dreams, Klaus would catch and hold dear to his heart. Every glance Dave would send his way would cause him to feel something stirring in his stomach. He just wanted to memorize every detail about the man. Every once in a while, Dave would randomly look his way and Klaus would realize he was staring. Dave would blush and look down and Klaus would scold himself for freaking the man out. But everytime Klaus convinced himself he would be chill, Dave would look at him with those beautiful ocean eyes and send Klaus into a spiral. Is this really what having a crush is like? How do people do it? This is torture. 

Scratch that. It’s _worse_ than torture. Klaus would know. He would rather be tortured by those two masked freaks again than ruin whatever this is. 

He sighed. God, he was an idiot. Ben was right, he had _just_ met this guy, he shouldn’t be pinning so hard. But he can’t help it! It’s just how he feels!

He sighed again, feeling stupid. Dave took his attention off of whatever tale Diego was telling him to look Klaus’ way with an expression that reminded Klaus of a distraught puppy dog, head cocked to the side, brows furrowed and mouth pressed in a firm line. It was as if he could sense Klaus’ distress. Klaus could feel his heart pick up at the thought. He shot Dave a smile that was meant to say, _“It’s all good, Davey. All is well here.”_

Dave quirked an eyebrow back as if to say, _“Really? Are you sure?”_

Klaus rolled his eyes,_ “Yes!!!” _

Dave exhaled a quiet laugh and blushed, looking down at the table. He looked up again and shot Klaus a small, almost shy smile, before refocusing back on Diego. 

Klaus felt his own face blush over the encounter. Every single time Dave looks at him it makes him want to run up a hill and scream out of pure excitement. He bit back a grin. 

Ben elbowed his side and gave Klaus the, _“Ummm, what the hell was that?!”_ expression. 

Klaus let his eyebrows wiggle across his forehead and shot his tongue out in response. Ben scoffed. Ben knew _exactly_ what was going on. Klaus giggled. 

Klaus took another bite of his food. He probably needed to chill. A simple eyebrow raise from Dave should _not_ make his heart flutter like that. But Dave was beautiful and funny and kind, does anyone seriously expect Klaus to act rational around someone like that? He can tell Ben doesn’t, and if the semi-amused glaces that Five keeps sending his way are any indication, neither does he. Although, Five is giving those looks to Allison and Diego too so maybe he just finds the entire situation entertaining… 

Whatever. Klaus has seen a romcom or two. Love will prevail, and all that crap. Right? He’s never really felt like this before so maybe that’s a sign. A sign that Dave is The One. Or maybe this is just what normal people feel whenever they have a crush. He wasn’t really sure. 

Whatever the case is, Klaus found it a bit scary, thank you very much. He tried to be normal and forget about it as the dinner carried on, but in the blink of an eye everyone’s finished eating and full. Dave offers to help clean up the dishes, which means Allison, Klaus and Diego help clean up as well. 

_(Diego always helps Grace clean up and shot Allison and Klaus a death glare when they offered this time)_

They finished up and all made their way upstairs to where the others were gathered in the living room. Dave thanked Grace for the wonderful meal and said his goodbyes to the rest of the Hargreeves. 

They walked him over to the front door where Allison stepped forward and embraced him in a tight hug. She pulled away slowly and gracefully moved so that her hands were still casually holding his forearms as she said, “Thank you so much for stopping by. It was a truly wonderful evening with you here.” 

Dave smiled warmly, “I should be the one thanking all of y’all. Good food and even better company.” 

“Well,” Allison continued with a flirtatious glint in her eye, “you are always welcome here. Don’t hesitate to stop by for _anything.”_

Dave didn’t seem to pick up on the advance. He simply smiled and thanked her once again. 

As Allison stepped aside looking slightly rejected, Diego smirked and advanced with a different technique. Going for a more macho approach, he embraced Dave in a brisk, but firm hug before pulling back. Klaus could tell he was trying to look cool and casual. Diego _loves_ trying to look like a cool brooding badass, but never quite manages to pull it off. 

“So, Dave,” he started, pulling out a knife and _casually_ twirling it in his hand, “if you’re still interested, I could show you my knife collection sometime. Maybe teach you some tricks.” 

Dave blinked, “Oh, sure Diego, that’d be really cool! Thanks!” 

Diego shrugged, trying oh so hard to appear nonchalant, “Yeah, it’s no big deal. I also do boxing. You could come to a match. If you wanted. Could be cool.” He shrugged again. 

Dave gave a friendly smile, “Sounds like a blast! You’ll have to let me know when the next match is.” 

Diego, seemingly pleased with his flirting abilities, gave Dave a nod and quick farewell before stepping aside. 

Oh god. Klaus stepped forward and Dave’s face lit up. It sent a jolt to Klaus’ heart. Dave’s smile was so bright it would make the sun jealous. 

“Hi, Dave.” 

“Hey, Klaus.” 

Should he hug him? His other siblings hugged him. He should hug him. 

He jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Dave. He tried not to think of how muscular Dave’s chest was, or how Dave smelled like car oil and the faint scent of lemon shampoo, or how safe Klaus felt in his arms. As he pulled back he missed the warmth of their embrace but still looked at Dave with a soft smile. Dave looked into his eyes and seemed to radiate vulnerability before swallowing and looking over Klaus’ shoulder. He backed away with a blush. Klaus blinked but Dave took another step back and gave a sweeping look at all of the Hargreeves huddled in the doorway and said, “Thank y’all so much for having me. It was truly wonderful. Next time we can try to cram into my lil apartment and I can host dinner!” 

The Hargreeves all cheered, but Klaus just stared, feeling breathless. Dave gave a final bright smile and said, “Seriously, thank you,” his gaze settled on Klaus, “I had a great time.” 

Klaus swallowed. Dave gave a small nod before quickly looking down and turning to walk away. Someone shut the door and Klaus let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Who was that?” 

He, along with the rest of his siblings, turned to see Vanya standing behind them, holding her violin case. Klaus sighed. 

“Just the love of my life.” 

“Hey!” Diego and Allison both shouted at the same time. 

Klaus was so screwed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooooooooo  
please let me know what you think!!! I'm not super happy with how this chapter turned out but i think I'm just not great at writing scenes with so many people in the room lol next chapter I'm just planning on it being mostly allison, diego, klaus, and dave...so back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans lol (also sorry for taking so long...my bad ahahhah)  
Comment and let me know your thoughts!!


	3. Chapter 3

“Blue?” Klaus held a blue sheer crop top to his chest, “Or purple?” a sparkly purple tank top.

Ben and Five sat on his bed, looking contemplative. Five took a long slurp of his margarita and Klaus resisted the urge to chastise him. It was nine in the morning, but who was he to judge?

“Purple,” Ben said, “and then you can pair it with your blue eyeliner.”

Klaus stroked his chin in contemplation for a moment before looking at Ben with a delighted grin, “You, my good sir, are a fashion genius.”

Ben stood up and did a dramatic bow. Klaus continued with a wiggle of his fingers, “And now for the bottoms…”

He looked around the room. He had clothes strewn all over the floor making it hard to find the things he wanted. He picked up a pair of leather pants and sniffed them. He held them up to his brothers with a questioning noise.

Five zapped to Klaus’ dresser and started rifling through. He pulled out the long black skirt that Klaus had stolen from Allison awhile ago with a satisfied smile, “This would match perfectly.”

Klaus took it with a smile, “Right you are, Five-o. You little fashionista. Now, I need both of you to scram. It’s time for me to get all glammed up.”

They both left the room with a laugh allowing Klaus to get dressed. He put blue eyeliner on, smudged to perfection, and tousled his hair to have that nice and messy, yet still stylish poof. He looked good, if he did say so himself.

Klaus skipped down the hall, but stopped abruptly when he heard the sound of someone upset and talking quickly. He looked ahead to see Diego talking into the phone, brows furrowed.

“Eudora please-”

Whatever he was going to say died in his throat as he was hung up on. He slowly put the phone back on the receiver and sighed. 

Eudora and Diego had had…a rollercoaster of a relationship to say the least. Before the apocalypse, they had gone through makeups and breakups and everything in between. Despite their high highs and low lows, they would never stay mad at each other long.

But then there was the apocalypse. It was a _fairly_ stressful week for everyone, but things really took a turn for the worst after Patch got shot.

_“Grazed”_ is how she would describe it, _“the bullet_ grazed _my arm, let’s not be dramatic.”_

Patch was ‘grazed’ while saving Klaus, actually. He was being tortured by those crazy commission assassins and she rescued him.

So...woohoo for that.

After Patch was injured, she and Diego had a massive blowout. It was all _“You could have gotten killed,”_ and, _“This is my job,”_ and, _“You could get killed doing this stuff too!”_

And blah, blah, blah. On and on and on.

Everyone could see that it was a fight out of love. _Well_, everyone _except_ Patch and Diego could see that. Apparently it got more heated than their usual spats because it ended with Eudora going to live with her parents in New Jersey for the time being, saying she was “truly done.” 

That was a few months ago. It seemed like things were just about done between them, but Klaus thought Diego still held on to a sliver of hope.

Klaus stepped beside him and patted a comforting hand on his back, “Girl trouble?”

Diego sighed again and muttered, “She doesn’t even want to talk to me.”

“Maybe she just needs a bit of space for now?” Klaus suggested softly.

“That’s what I’ve been thinking for _months_ now. But she is really just done.”

Diego took a deep breath, pulling himself together, “I just have to move on. I’ll have an easy breezy one night stand and get her out of my head.”

Klaus laughed fondly, “I genuinely don’t think I could picture you ever having a one night stand.”

Diego was quiet for a moment, a small smile gracing his lips, “Me and Dora started out as a one night stand.”

Klaus rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and then you fell madly in love with her and now you’re _still_ madly in love with her.”

Diego scowled, “No I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Am _not._ And even if I was _-which I’m not-_ I’m moving on. I’ve already got that Dave thing lined up.”

Klaus tried to be casual as he laughed. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of Diego hooking up with Dave, “Yeah, sure you do.”

Diego stood straight, growing confidence, “Yep. Dave and I will have a quick little romp and then I will be over her.”

“A _romp?!_ Diego, what century are you from?”

Diego glared in response. 

Klaus sighed, “You know, that doesn’t really seem like a healthy way of dealing with your feelings.”

Diego glared again and sarcastically said, “Yeah, okay, let me just take some relationship advice from _you_.”

“Hey! I’ve been in relationships!”

Diego gave him a look.

“Okay, maybe _a_ relationship...But it was a good one! We even lived together! And he would cook me dinners! You ever heard of osso bucco? I doubt it.”

“Yeah? How long did that last? A week?”

Klaus pouted, “More like _three_, thank you very much. That’s basically a month.”

Diego snorted and gave his head a melancholy shake, “Dora and I were together for years.”

Klaus wrapped an arm around his brother sighing, “I know buddy, I know.”

They stood in the hallway holding each other for a moment before descending downstairs to start their day. They ate breakfast together, along with Vanya and Luther who were excitedly discussing some movie they watched the other day for the whole meal. Klaus quickly scarfed down the food. He didn’t just get all dolled up for nothing! He was a man with a plan. He was going to swing by Dave’s shop today. Casually, of course.

A good, old fashioned swing-by-the-hot-mechanic’s-shop-to-see-if-he-is-as-in-love-with-you-as-you-are-with-him.

Casually.

Not a big deal.

Klaus quickly finished his breakfast and skipped out of the house. He decided to take the bus to avoid getting as sweaty as he would if he walked. He didn’t want _anything_ to ruin his look. 

When he made it to the shop, Klaus took a deep breath, feeling his heart flutter in his chest. He paused in front of the door for a moment, composing himself, before he swung it open. He sauntered inside, then froze.

_Allison!!!!_

She was looking right at him with wide eyes. She was standing right next to Diego’s car, which Klaus could see Dave tucked under the hood of, hunkered down and working. He didn’t notice Klaus walk in. 

Allison shot him a look that screamed, _“Leave! Now!”_

Klaus shot her an equally sassy look that read, _“No, you leave!”_

Allison let out an annoyed huff before putting on a fake cheery smile, “Hi Klaus!”

Dave immediately jerked, smacking his head on top of the car’s hood and stumbling. 

“Woah!” Klaus and Allison both jumped forward to steady him. Klaus placed a hand on his forearm asking, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t…” Dave blinked, dazed eyes finally settling on Klaus, “Wow, you look amazing.”

Klaus felt his lips part in surprise. Dave’s eyes widened and he quickly jumped up and away from them, “I mean, um- I mean...Yeah, so,” he cleared his throat, face turning red, “I, uh, I was tellin’ Allison here about the troubles with the car. Basically-”

Dave began explaining the problem, tucking himself back under the hood and completely avoiding eye contact. Klaus wasn’t really listening to whatever car jargon he was reeling off. He was too busy trying to get his brain to start working again. 

_Amazing,_ he said Klaus looked _amazing_. No compliment has ever made Klaus feel as giddy as that. _Amazing_. 

Klaus took a deep breath. He allowed himself to express all of his excitement in one giant smile spreading wide across his face. Another deep breath. He couldn’t stop smiling, but who said he had to?

He sidled up next to Dave with an inextinguishable smile illuminating his face. He leaned over to look at the car part Dave was gesturing to and talking about. Dave gave him a furtive glance before quickly looking away with a small blush. 

Klaus bit his bottom lip and tried to listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
just a lil chapter today. hope you all enjoy it!! i love reading all of your comments, and they really do motivate me to write faster lol so keep them coming!!  
Also: Eudora lives!!! I actually planned on her being dead like in the show, but I feel like it wouldn't make sense for Diego to be moving on already if she had been killed. So they just had a bad breakup and he is trying to convince himself hot dave is the way to move on...hmmmmmmmm....stay tuned ;)


End file.
